San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-09-30
CHAPTER III.
A LUCKY RUN.

From the moment Will heard about
the smuggling he began to get restless.
He would follow Ian down to the beach
md taEs while ~ lsssGd gftSr the boats.
knew that he was pumping cams I'D
ventures out of him-a process by no
means difficult. Dams anecdotes were
chiefly Of narrow escapes-not from rev.
enue cutters or privateers so much as
from sea fOgs. Once in Il thick fog he
nearly put straight into BridpOrt harbOr,
there being at the time only n light
breeze from the southeast, and revenue
cutter armed and manned lying within
the two piers, ready to give him and his
cargo a warm welcome. Another time he
had to heave overheard the whole of his
cargo almost under the very nose of his
pursuers. He knew the whole of the
French coast, from Dunkerque to St.
Malo, and was known in every port. He
would drop along the shore, hugging the
land, so as to look as much as possible
like fishing smack till he arrived at his
destination; when, you may be sure, he
took very little time to load and go away
again. Or there were tales of heavy seas
and stiff sou weSters. Dan was 90 years
of age or Whereabouts at this time, and
his memory carried him back for half a
century of smuggling. His father before
him, and his grandfather before him, had
been yeomen of ROusdOn, like himself,
and, like himself, mainly dependent on
the Illicit trade.
Now, there was hardly anything more
likely to excite the imagination of town
bred youth than a tale of a successful and
hazardous run. The romance, such as it
was, Of highwaymen was over. There
were still plenty Of them, and they were
always hanged when they were caught,
so that they were not without some glory
But, considered as heroes, they had had
their day. The degenerate successors OF
Claude Duval were either desperate muir
derers, like the Blacks of Waltham, or
they were poor, commonplace, ragged
fOotpads. But the smuggler--the man
who encountered the dangers of war, Of
storm and of the revenue offiCers-was
still hero So that Dan leaped at once,
in the estimation of VIII, from n good
natured, cheerful old sailor to the level Of
a sea king; and this despite the young
mans early training and prejudice.
Then came evenings in which after the
violin had discoursed, we sat round the
fire and talked Of nothing else but old
trips and their results. Countless werU
the questions put by Wiil-questions as to
the French coast, the French people, their
ways, and their manners; as to the boat,
and the navigation of the Channel; as to
the danger and the delight Of running If
teen knots an hour, everything made snug
and taut, carrying all canvas, with
heavy seas washing over the gallant little
craft. never thought what might hap
pen. had lived So long in an atmos-
phere of carelessness to danger that / had
quite ceased to believe in any danger
And when Will begged Dan to take him,
too, when he made another run, l laughed
and clapped my hands to think how he
would enjoy it.
Dan made difficulties. He said 1t was
not young gentleman's work; that his
lady mother might get to hear Of it; that
things might happen; that he would never
be easy in his mind afterward If anything
did happen. Finally, over-persuaded by
the eagerness of the young man, he &C
coded to his request.
We were then in the cold evenings,
about the middle of October and in the
last few days Of a waning moon. The
weather was fine and open, with a steady
southwesterly breeze springing up most
nights toward sunset, and lasting till late
the next morning. Dan went over to the
mill to consult with Joshua, who read
lily resigned his place to viii, on the con-
dition Of his not losing his place in the
profits, should the venture be successful.
/ took this kindly of Joshua. l thought
he must have passed into better frame
of mind, although he had not been -